the oklahoma baptist chronicle€¦ · the oklahoma baptist chronicle 4 >> by bob nigh,...

The

Oklahoma Baptist

Chronicle

Bob Nigh, Editor [email protected]

Published by Oklahoma Baptists’ HISTORICAL COMMISSION

Baptist Building 3800 N. May Ave.

Oklahoma City, OK 73112-6506

Volume LXIII Spring 2020 Number 1

The Oklahoma Baptist Chronicle

2

3

CONTENTS

April 19 25th Anniversary of Murrah Building Bombing........4 Singing Churchmen Observe 60th Anniversary…..…....….14 Historical Secretary’s Report………………………………....22 Digitalization of Falls Creek Tapes, Videos Underway…….24 Necrology 2019………………………………………….……..26 Memorials………………………………………………….…...32


4

>> by Bob Nigh, Historical Secretary, Director of History At 9:02 a.m., Wed., April 19, 1995, a huge explosion rocked downtown Oklahoma City, and a pillar of black smoke soared into the bright azure sky above the center of the state’s capital. Shocked and stunned residents watched in disbelief, wondering what had happened. Thanks to almost immediate television coverage, it took only a few minutes for most residents to learn that the explosion was the result of a bomb placed in a 24-foot Ryder rental truck parked in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. It was determined later that Timothy McVeigh, a disgruntled former U.S. service-man, carried out the bombing that killed 168 people and injured more than 680 others. The bombing was the deadliest act of terror-ism in the United States prior to the Septem-ber 11 attacks, and remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in the history of the United States. A Gulf War veteran, McVeigh sought revenge against the federal government for the 1993 Waco, Texas siege that ended in the deaths of 86 people, many of whom were children, exactly two years before the bombing, as well as the 1992 Ruby Ridge incident and America’s foreign policy. He hoped to inspire a revolution against the federal government, and defended the bombing as a legitimate tactic against what he saw as a tyrannical government. He was arrested shortly after the bombing and indicted on 160 state offenses and 11 federal offenses, including the use of a weap-on of mass destruction. He was found guilty on all counts in 1997 and sentenced to death. McVeigh was executed by lethal injection on June 11, 2001 at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Ind. Terry Nichols and Michael Fortier were also convicted as conspirators in the plot. Nichols was sentenced to eight life terms for the deaths of eight federal agents, and to 161 life terms without the

25th anniversary of bombing of Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building

Alfred P. Murrah

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_the_United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_the_United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waco_siege

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Ridge

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_foreign_policy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Correctional_Complex,_Terre_Haute

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Correctional_Complex,_Terre_Haute

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Nichols

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_and_Lori_Fortier

5

possibility of parole by the state of Oklahoma for the deaths of the others. Fortier was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment and was later released. Constructed at a cost of $14.5 million, the building, named for attorney and federal judge Alfred Paul Murrah, Sr., opened on March 2, 1977. In 1937, Murrah was ap-pointed U.S. District Judge for the Western, Eastern, and Northern Districts of Oklahoma. He served for many years as chair of the Committee on Pretrial Prac-tice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United States, chair of the Council of Judges of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, chair of the Judicial Panel on Multi-district Litigation, and direc-tor of the Federal Judicial Center. According to The Oklaho-ma Department of Civil Emergency Management After Action Report about the bombing, “an explosive mix-ture had been prepared with a detonation cord and pre-positioned, parked parallel, in a loading lane on the north side of the building, near the intersec-tion of N.W. 5th St. and Robinson Ave. The force of the explosion was of such magnitude that it destroyed approximately one-third of the Murrah Building. The entire north face of the structure was re-duced to rubble and each of the nine floors, plus the roof, received extensive damage.” The truck bomb consisted of approximately 5,000 pounds of am-monium nitrate fertilizer, and diesel fuel. “Contents of the first and second floors were blown against the southern portion of the building, while the third through ninth floors were initially raised by the blast and proceeded to pancake one atop the other at street level,” the after action report continued. “When the dust cleared, approximately one-third of the structure was

Murrah Federal Building Bombing

The Alfred P. Murrah Federal

Building at 200 NW 5th St. in

Oklahoma City prior to its de-

struction by a bomb on April

19, 1995.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_nitrate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_fuel


6

located in a pile of debris, measuring in some places 35 feet in height and running the length of the building. At the time of the blast, the Murrah Building housed some 600 federal and contract workers, as well as an estimated 250 visitors.”

Federal agencies housed in the Murrah

Building included the Bureau of Alcohol, To-bacco, and Firearms; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Secret Service; the De-partment of Housing and Urban Develop-ment; the Social Security Administration; the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps recruit-ment offices; the Veterans Administration; the General Accounting Office; the Department of Health and Human Services; the Department of Defense; the U.S. Customs Service; the Department of Agriculture; the Department of Transportation; and, the General Services Administration. An office of the Federal Em-ployees Credit Union and the "America's Kids" Child Care Development Center were

also housed in the building. The explosion represented the most destructive—and costly in the terms of lives taken—act of domestic terrorism carried out in U.S. history. The blast was felt as far as 30 miles away and dam-aged 347 buildings in the immediate area. Thirty buildings were heavily damaged and, in the aftermath, almost 20 buildings were torn down. Twenty blocks of downtown Oklahoma City were cor-doned off due to the extent of the bomb damage. Tragically, among the lives lost that spring morning included 19 children under the age of six being cared for in the America’s Kids Day Care Center on the second floor. The total number of lives lost would rise to 168 with the ensuing death of a first responder—nurse Rebecca Anderson—who died as the result of a piece of concrete striking her in the back of the head while she was engaged in rescu-ing survivors. Two decades earlier, The Baptist General Convention of Oklaho-ma (BGCO) had made preparations to respond to disasters. The state had been divided into four areas, each with a team of volun-teers under the supervision of an area leader. This enabled more volunteers to become involved in ministry without calling the same team to respond time after time. All four area volunteers and leaders were called upon to help in the Oklahoma City bombing. According to the 1995 BGCO Annual Report, 55 disaster relief volunteers prepared approximately 6,000 meals for rescue workers, and 21 volunteers provided emergency day care at Shepherd Mall

Joe Williams

7


Shopping Center at N.W. 23rd St. and Villa Ave. for 11 days. A total of 93 children were given supervised care at the request of the Fed-eral Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). A feeding unit was set up on the parking lot of Oklahoma City, First in downtown Oklahoma City. That operation was closed down after four days, however, because Oklahoma City officials requested all feeding for police, fire and chaplaincy teams be done by the Okla-homa Restaurant Association (ORA) at the Myriad Convention Cen-

ter. In the im-mediate hours following the bombing, many well-meaning food vendors, desiring to help, had been bringing vari-ous foods and leaving them without proper temperature and sanitary controls. This change in feed-ing operations and safeguards instituted were made for the health of the rescue teams. ORA mem-bers had just

concluded their annual conference when the explosion occurred. Eventually, the Myriad Convention Center was established as a command center which met the needs of all personnel responding to the incident. Donated clothing, food, equipment and supplies were available on a 24-hour basis. AT&T provided free telephone calls home for the U.S. Search and Recovery (US&R) Task Forces, com-plemented by a free mail and parcel delivery service provided by United Parcel Service. The Myriad also housed nine of the 11 US&R Task Forces. The BGCO chaplaincy program officially was organized in 1984 by Bob Haskins, and in 1986, Nicoma Park, First Pastor Joe Wil-liams was brought on board as chaplaincy and community services specialist. Under Williams’ direction, chaplaincy grew in many areas.

Jack and Phyllis Poe stand in front of The Sur-vivor Tree, an American elm that stood in the parking lot of the Journal Record Building, now the Oklahoma City National Memorial, shown in the background. (Baptist Messenger photo

by Bob Nigh)


8

As the dust and smoke from the destroyed Murrah building was settling, chaplains—including Williams, Oklahoma City Police Department chaplain Jack Poe, Oklahoma City Fire Department chaplain Ted Wilson and Cleveland

County Sheriff’s Office chaplain Paul Bettis—ministered to teams searching the Murrah Building for survivors. Bettis, who also was working in prison chaplaincy at the time, later served as BGCO chaplaincy specialist from 2002-2013. As the bombing response continued, he was in-volved—along with officers with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency—in serving death notifications to family members. The chaplains also provided debriefing and counseling services for the first re-sponders who worked under grueling, dan-gerous and horrifying circumstances. Their work continued for the duration of search and rescue operations, and for months after the building was demolished, as they counseled with men and women whose lives were devastated by the events of April 19, 1995. Wilson, who was actually the OCFD volunteer chaplain at the time, was kept busy 16-18 hours a day leading continuous Critical Incident Stress Management ministry. “I did a lot of one-on-one debriefing and defusing ministry in the building and elsewhere on site to people who were beginning to get

Those attending the 15th anniversary ceremo-nies of the bombing in 2010 gathered under beautiful blue skies. (Photo by Bob Nigh )

Ted Wilson

9


traumatized,” Wilson said. “Whenever I found them, they just cried or we talked, and we did whatever was necessary to do. Also, we had access to one floor at nearby One Bell Central where we did CISM ministry.” Later, as members of rescue and recovery crews began to rotate off the site, they were required to go through a debriefing process led by Wilson and others to reclaim their credentials. “They had checked in with their credentials upon arrival, and we held onto their credentials until we checked them out,” Wilson said. “We also dealt with police offic-ers, volunteers on the perimeter and construction workers. Wilson was a participant in one of the most in-tense rescues of a bombing vic-tim—Nancy Lee Ingram, 63-year-old administrative secretary for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service—who had taken an early morning break at 8:50 a.m. to go to the Federal Employees Credit Union on the third floor of the Murrah Building to order some personalized checks. After ordering her checks, she had stopped in the hallway to visit with credit union employee Patti Hall when the blast occurred. Ingram and Hall—who later underwent more than 20 surgical procedures to repair her torn body—were buried under tons of con-crete and other debris. Wilson and several others worked together to get the ladies out of the debris, even remaining to work after hearing a false report of another bomb being found in the building. Wilson said a total of 985 OCFD firefighters participated in the rescue and recovery effort the bombing. In addition, there were about 250 police officers. All told, there were more than 25,000 peo-ple who worked the site, he said.

Jack Poe prays at the memorial chair placed in memory of Secret Service agent Mickey Moroney at the Oklahoma City National Me-morial. (Baptist Messenger photo by Bob Nigh)


10

Unaware that other fire departments across the state had chap-lains, Wilson was delighted to learn there actually were several. “I was able to bring in about 10 outside fire chaplains from Okla-homa, including Chuck McDade from Midwest City, Danny Ringer from Elk City and others. Williams, also an FBI chaplain, said the most frus-trating aspect of the aftermath of the bombing was coordinat-ing the chap-laincy response. “One of the things that Jack and I did, along with Jack’s wife, Phyllis, that oth-ers would not have been able to do quite as well, was that we had an influx of people coming in who wanted to be chaplains and tried to convince us they were chaplains,” he said in a Baptist Messenger interview at the 20th an-niversary of the bombing. To stem the tide of unqualified chaplains, Williams said, “Everyone wishing to serve as a chaplain was required to go to the command center to get credentials to be allowed inside the perime-ter. Some of them were getting credentials to get inside just to take pictures of bodies, or pick up pieces of evidence and put them in their pockets. We had about 250 credentialed chaplains eventually.” Not only did Williams, who died in 2016 from bladder cancer, minister as a chaplain, but he also later represented the BGCO as a member of the committee that distributed donated funds to survivors and victims’ families. Also serving on that distribution committee was Wilson, who, at the time of the bombing, was fresh out of rookie school. Wilson recently retired as OCFD chaplain after serving in that capacity for 32 years. Records showed that as of Aug. 9, 1995, donations to help vic-

The north side of the Alfred P. Murrah

Federal Building after a bomb exploded

on April 19, 1995.

11


tims and their families and relief workers totaled $678,862.63 with $264,758.31 having been disbursed. Pastors were being asked to personally deliver checks to the recipients. With the stipulation that it be made available immediately as future needs arose, $125,000 had been placed in the Baptist Foundation by the relief committee. The relief funds also were used to provide counseling for second-ary victims. In addition, donations also were used to bring in Roger Solomon, the world's most prominent Critical Incident Stress Disor-der professional. All clergy were invited to a June 26 meeting, which provided guidance in counseling the 4,000 rescue workers and their families (all secondary victims) whose lives were forever affected by their participation in events resulting from the April 19 tragedy. A later update of the fund revealed that contributions totaling $691,350.92 had been received, and disbursements of $314,582.31 had been made to assist victims of the disaster. In the immediate hours of the response, Phyllis Poe, meanwhile, set up a “Chaplain’s Corner” in the parking garage of nearby One Bell Central. She eventually compiled a list of 255 chaplains—including 27 military chaplains, because Jack also was state chap-lain for the National Guard—who showed up to minister to the vic-tims, survivors and first responders. The Poes worked tirelessly in the weeks, months and years after the bombing, pouring their hearts and souls into the lives of others. The smiles on their faces and the ubiquitous hugging masked their anger and the bitterness of not being able to forgive the perpetrators of the horrendous crime eating at them inside, and that eventually led to an unstable marriage. “I didn’t know where to put my anger. I had a lot of anger. Anger that people were hurt; that people died. Anger that our lives were changed within seconds, because you’ll never be the same,” Phyllis confessed in a Baptist Messenger article at the 20th anniversary of the bombing. “No matter where we go, what we do, we talk about the bombing. It comes up somehow. Before the bombing, after the bombing. It’s one of those markers in your life.” Things came to a head in 1999, and the Poes were “saved,” by Williams, who arranged for them to attend a compassion fatigue seminar in Florida. “Joe came to the house, and had airplane tickets to Florida for us to go to what we thought was a big conference on something called compassion fatigue,” Phyllis recounted. “But, when we got there, the ‘conference’ was for just the two of us. Joe, along with the Lord, saved our marriage by coming over and loving us.” In the days and months following the bombing, the response and outpouring of love and self-sacrifice made by Oklahomans came to be known as the “Oklahoma Standard.”


12

Anthony L. Jordan, now retired Executive Director-Treasurer of the BGCO, and pastor of Oklahoma City, Northwest at the time of the bombing, wrote 20 years after the tragedy in his Perspective col-umn in the Baptist Messenger that, “In the hours and days that fol-lowed the bombing, one thing became clear. Oklahoma faced trage-dy in a different way than had been evidenced in other parts of the country and world. Volunteers, companies, and first responders rushed to the site, offering themselves, equipment, food, and any-thing needed to help with the search and rescue effort. Rescue teams came from around the world to help. Television and radio broadcasts would announce a need for water, gloves, or boots, and within minutes, long lines of cars formed at the drop-off site and there would be more items than could be used. The heart of Oklaho-ma people was evident to the world. No need went unmet. “I remember walking among the rubble as a volunteer chaplain. I walked beside the crater left by the bomb. Staring up close at the gnarled building, my mind found it hard to comprehend the level of evil displayed. Here, innocent lives were snuffed out without re-morse. Satan had hurled a mighty blow. “April 19 will be remembered as long as Oklahoma City stands. April 19 will not be remembered for the triumph of evil, but will be remembered for the victory of faith, love, and kindness displayed by the people of the heartland—people from the buckle of the Bible belt. On that fateful day and in the days that followed, faith, hope, love, and goodness would be on display. The last word to define April 19 is not death, but hope!” North of the Murrah Building across NW 5th St. stands the Jour-nal Record Building, which, today, houses the Oklahoma City Nation-al Memorial Museum, which was completed in February 2001. At the time of the bombing, it was the headquarters for the Journal Record Publishing Co. Built in 1922, its original purpose was to house the multiple Masonic Lodges of Oklahoma City. The mission statement of the Memorial Museum—which was dedicated on Feb. 19, 2001—declares: “We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forev-er. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity.®”

The museum contains 30,000 square feet of interactive displays which tell the story of that fateful day. It also houses the Oklahoma City National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, whose stated mission is “to deter and prevent terrorism and to miti-gate its effects.”

On April 19, 1995, the Journal Record building received extensive damage. The explosion blew the roof off, several floors collapsed,

13


and broken glass penetrated the entire structure. Fortunately, no fatalities occurred in the building, although there were several criti-cal injuries. Immediately south of the Journal Record building in what used to be an adjacent parking lot for employees is one of the most endur-ing symbols of hope which emerged following the blast. The “Survivor Tree”—the only tree in the surrounding area which sur-vived the bombing—is a 100-year-old American elm which now stands as a beacon of hope, survival and resiliency. Surrounding the Survivor Tree, small Eastern (Oklahoma) Red-bud trees represent the Oklahoma first responders, the first to the scene. The two remaining trees are a Chinese pistache and an Amur maple. These non-native trees to Oklahoma represent the rescuers who came from across the nation and world. Across the street to the south, and on the site of the demolished Murrah Building, is the permanent memorial to the memory of the survivors and those who lost their lives. The area, dedicated on April 19, 2000, the fifth anniversary of the bombing, is bracketed by the “The Gates of Time,” monuments, which forever frame a mo-ment of destruction and tragedy. The 9:01 gate to the east is a sym-bolic reference to the last minute of innocence for our nation in re-gards to domestic terrorism. The 9:03 gate is a symbolic reference to the first minute of recovery, the moment when grieving, and heal-ing, began. The time of 9:02 a.m. stretches between the two, repre-senting a tragically long minute in which citizens were killed, sur-vived and changed forever. Stretching between the Gates of Time—and along what once was the surface of N.W. 5th St.—is a reflecting pool flanked by sidewalks which offer a place of quiet solitude and an avenue for visitors to stroll the grounds of the memorial. On the south side of the reflecting pool—the site where the Mur-rah Building stood—is a grassy area which includes a Field of Chairs arranged in nine rows, representing the nine floors of the Murrah Building. Each chair, representing an individual's life, is placed on the row (or the floor) they would have worked on or were visiting at the time of the bombing. Within each row, chairs are grouped by agency, and then in alphabetical order progressing from east to west. The chairs are also arranged to abstractly reflect the outline of the blast cavity of the Murrah Building, with the densest concentra-tion of chairs reflecting the most severe damage to the building. The five chairs located on the western side of the field are positioned in a column. These chairs represent the five people who did not die within the federal building.


14

Book, concerts celebrate 60th Anniversary of The Singing Churchmen of Oklahoma

Editor’s Note: This article is comprised of excerpts from the upcom-ing 12-inch-by-12-inch, soft-cover coffee table book, This is their Sto-ry! This is their Song!, which was written by retired Baptist Messenger Associate Editor Dana Williamson and designed by Rick Boyd of BOYDesign.

The introduction to a new book now in production to commemo-rate the 60th anniversary of the founding of The Singing Churchmen of Oklahoma (SCM) states, “Why I had not thought of this before that day, I’ll never understand,” lamented Gene Bartlett, director of the music department for Oklahoma Baptists, and the man credited with bringing together a singing group of ministers of music in 1960, soon to be known as The Singing Churchmen of Oklahoma. This is their story! This is their song! Continues: Since that day at Immanuel Baptist Church in Tulsa, when a group of ministers of music got together informally to sing, The Churchmen, the second group of its kind organized in the Southern Baptist Convention (The first was the Sons of Jubal from the Geor-gia Convention in the mid-1950s), has appeared in venues through-out the world. A top-notch male choir, the group has toured exten-sively, and captured the admiration of audiences with an ever-present commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, balancing voices in a unified effort, and creating a blend which produces a sound all its own. A sense of spiritual mission sets The Singing Churchmen apart as unique. Their music is aptly described as ‘preaching through the notes.’ They are devoted musicians using their talents to Communi-cate the story of Christ, each member bringing his own individual gifts, talents and creativity to the group. Since their inception in 1960, the men have been dedicated to presenting gospel music with passion and artistry. The goal has always been ministry to their Lord and His church. Since the first group, composed of about 35 full-time ministers of music, the choir has grown to nearly 300 singers, and is comprised additionally of men who serve in churches as volunteer and bivoca-tional musicians. The membership also includes, pastors, other church staff members, evangelists and retired church musicians. The only rewards the men receive are the joy and satisfaction of

15

singing with the group. Drawn together by a common professional interest and the op-portunity to share in ministry, they receive no compensation and pay their own way to concerts and on mission trips to share the story of Jesus in song. Throughout their 60 years, these men have used their gift of music received from God to make a difference. To also celebrate the SCM’s 60

th anniversary, conductor Randy

Lind, who became leader of the group in 2012, has put together a series of concerts to celebrate the milestone. The books, which are priced at $20, will be available for purchase at the concert venues. “Instead of having one large concert event, we are going to be traveling around the state and connecting with specific churches associated with our directors,” Lind said. The schedule includes concerts Oct. 8 at Tulsa, First (Jim Woodward); Nov. 12 at Elk City, First (Bill Green); and Jan. 14, 2021 at Oklahoma City, Southern Hills (Lind). Other stops include Feb. 4, 2021 at Tulsa, South Tulsa and March 4, 2021 at Ponca City, First. “The final concert of the season will be April 8, 2021 at Ok-lahoma Baptist University (OBU) in Shawnee, where so many of our men have gone to school and were influenced by Dean Woodward as well,” Lind added. “There will be a banquet prior to the concert at OBU for SCM and guests. We also will have a “video package” available that will have testimonies and sto-ries from some of the members, with an opening from me, and

Singing Churchmen of Oklahoma

In 2003, the Singing Churchmen of Oklahoma attracted a large crowd to their concert in the world-famous Sydney Opera House. Photo by Bob Nigh


16

closing from Bill Green. This is their Story! This is their song! outlines how the SCM came together in the beginning: There are no accidents with God, so to say the formation of The Singing Churchmen was an accident would not be accu-rate. Yet the group did start very ‘informally.’ Although there are a couple of versions of how The Churchmen was birthed, it is agreed that it happened during a Western Church Music Conference sponsored by the Baptist Sunday School Board at Immanuel Baptist Church in Tulsa in August 1960. Western, by the way, referred to the region, not the type of music. One story goes that Gene Bartlett, director of the church music department for Oklahoma Baptists, during a lull in the program, put a group of ministers of music in the choir loft, passed out music and led them through it. A more formal ac-count states that during a conference break, William J. (Bill) Reynolds, former Oklahoma minister of music, and then music editor in the church music department of the Sunday School Board, asked Bartlett if he could get a group of Oklahoma mu-sic directors together and have them sing for about thirty minutes for the session. Glenn Boyd, a seminary student at the time and later suc-cessor to Bartlett in the Oklahoma Baptists church music de-partment, said he remembers that for some reason the pro-gram sort of fell apart, and Reynolds came to the Oklahomans

The Singing Churchmen of Oklahoma present a concert at Gol-gotha Baptist Church in Moscow, Russia in 2014. Photo: Bob Nigh

17

to rescue it. However they got together at that time, James D. Wood-ward, who was minister of music at First Baptist Church in Tulsa, and later would be named director of the group, said, “The sound we made that day may be commonplace around the Southern Baptist Convention today, but then, it was new, fresh and, at least to those of us producing it, electrifying. The experience was so exhilarating for us all that we purposed to do some singing every time we came together for the various statewide meetings.” Soon afterward, Bartlett announced he was organizing a singing group of ministers of music to be known as the Okla-homa Baptist Singing Churchmen. The group would make its first appearance at the State Brotherhood Convention at Trini-ty Baptist Church in Oklahoma City on Nov. 14-15, 1960. The group’s second appearance would be at the annual meeting of Oklahoma Baptists that met shortly thereafter at First Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. From its inception, the SCM were immensely popular. The com-memorative book states, “The Nov. 24, 1960, issue of the Baptist Messenger had this to say after The Churchmen's first public ap-pearance: ‘The Singing Churchmen, a new musical group made up mainly of music directors from the churches, presented several spe-cial numbers which were well received by the many messengers who had already filled the auditorium.’ (During the Oklahoma Bap-tists’ annual meeting.) From this point on, the men were often invited to sing at special Oklahoma Baptists events. The first project of the new group was to raise money for a music chapel at Falls Creek Baptist Assembly (now Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center). Bartlett scheduled concerts for The Churchmen at First Baptist Church, Ardmore; Trinity Baptist Church, Oklahoma City, and Sequoyah Hills Baptist Church in Tulsa. An offering for the music building was taken at each concert. The cost of the new build-ing was estimated to be between $60,000 and $75,000. The Baptist Messenger reported that the new organization would include all ministers of music, ministers of music and education, part-time and volunteer music directors and that all men who were interested should meet at Trinity on November 14. Yet, the booklet written for the 45th anniversary of The Churchmen states that the choir was made up entirely of full-time ministers of music and was by “Invitation only.” From the beginning, the SCM have dedicated themselves to sharing the Gospel wherever God would lead. This commit-ment has taken the SCM across the state of Oklahoma, the United States and many parts of the world. The ministry and



18

music of the Singing Churchmen have led them to minister in Israel, Armenia, Spain, China, Estonia, two trips to Russia, Australia, and Portugal. In 1991 the SCM sang at “Prai-Sing” in Nashville, Tenn., and in 1998, the SCM, their sister organi-zation, the Singing ChurchWomen of Oklahoma (SCW), and the Oklahoma Baptist Symphony (OBS) were invited to sing at the Southern Baptist Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. The group has had only a few leaders in its 50 years. Soon after forming the group, Bartlett relinquished conducting duties to Jim Woodward. Following Woodward were Bill Green, Ken Gabrielse and Randy Lind. This is their Story! This is their song! says of the switch to Woodward as SCM leader, “From that day forward, except for about 18 months in 1969-70 when he served as director of The Centurymen, a group of ministers of music across the Southern Baptist Convention, Woodward was the choral direc-tor and Bartlett served as the business manager and decision-maker, doing much of the legwork for the group.” On Jan. 14, 1991, Woodward, Oklahoma Baptist church music director Paul Magar, his wife, Judy, and Mary June Tabor, longtime Oklahoma Baptist music assistant, were killed in a plane crash. The quartet was returning from a Singing ChurchWomen concert in Woodward. That tragic crash would forever change the history of The Churchmen. An Associated Press news story said Woodward’s private plane strayed twice from the path to Will Rogers World Airport and was headed away from the airport when the single-engine Mooney M20J

Longtime SCM director Bill Green leads the group at a concert.

19

dove into a field located one mile north of downtown Newcastle and five miles south of the Oklahoma City airport. The impact was such that the engine plowed five feet into the ground. Light rain had re-duced the visibility to less than 700 feet, officials said. David Gonzalez, Will Rogers’ air traffic manager, said Woodward switched to the instrument landing system to guide him to the airport runway after he failed to find it visually. Woodward, who had 5,000 hours of flying time, flew off course at least twice while searching for the airport’s signal, and controllers had to guide him back onto the approach path, Gonzalez said. Finally, the pilot indicated he was receiving the signal. That was the last transmission made between Woodward and the control tower, Gonzalez said. The plane crashed at 10:47 p.m. The Churchmen sang for both Woodward’s funeral on the cam-pus of Oklahoma Baptist University and the Magars’ and Tabor’s joint funeral at Council Road Baptist Church in Bethany. Don Black-ley, minister of music at First Baptist Church in Norman, was asked to assume the position of interim SCM director, and Green took up the reins of the group soon after. When Green was elected to head the church music department by the Oklahoma Baptists board of directors in May 1991, he told board members that when he heard about the plane crash, the Lord told him, “You’re going to have to deal with this somehow.” He said he didn’t understand until a man from Oklahoma called for permis-sion to recommend him for the church music job. “I think this is what the Lord means, and this is where I’m sup-posed to serve,” Green related. “I’m here because God has led me to this place.” A magna cum laude graduate of OBU, the man who would soon take over directorship of the SCM had directed the Sing-ing Men of West Texas and North Central Texas. Green conducted the SCM from his arrival in Oklahoma in 1991 as BGCO Church Music Department director until their 2008-2009 season. He led the SCM as they traveled abroad on several mission trips, including Latvia, Estonia and Russia in 1993 and China in 1996, performing concerts in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Hong Kong. In 2003, the men traveled to Australia to present con-certs and lead training conferences in Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, and surrounding communities. The internationally-known Sydney Opera House was a concert venue for the mission trip. In 2014, the SCM ministered at churches in Moscow and at the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Their 2009 trip to Armenia and Israel included a concert before their largest audience ever, an estimated 1 million people at the Ar-menian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan.



20

As the SCM became well-known, the men were invited to partici-pate in events across the nation as well as perform for radio and television shows. While continuing to give up to 10 concerts a year, The Churchmen also participated in numerous events outside the church walls. Their first television appearance was on the popular local Tom Paxton Show on WKY-TV in Oklahoma City on Sept. 18, 1964. They also made several appearances on the local CBS affiliate Gaylon Stacy Show in the 1960s. During the Christmas season of 1965, the men were featured on Great Choirs of America, a production of NBC Radio. Under the di-rection of Woodward, The Churchmen sang hymn arrangements, gospel songs, spirituals and Christmas carols. The sound of The Churchmen was carried by radio throughout the nation on NBC sta-tions. They were heard again on the same program in August and September 1968. They appeared on the program of the National Royal Ambassa-dor Congress at the State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City on Aug. 13-15, 1968. Since The Churchmen’s inception, the men have sung at numer-ous Oklahoma Baptist evangelism conferences and state conven-tions. One notable appearance was at the 1973 annual meeting of Oklahoma Baptists at MacMahon Auditorium in Lawton, where a future president of the United States was in the audience. Jimmy Carter, then governor of Georgia, was a featured speaker for the event. He would be elected president three years later. Over its 60-year history, The Singing Churchmen of Okla-homa have created an impressive catalog of recordings. Dur-ing their early years, many of these recordings were with ma-jor Christian labels, such as Word, Light, Impact and Paragon. Several were even made with well-known Christian artists and composers, such as Hale and Wilder, Ralph Carmichael and Bill Gaither. In recent years, they have frequently recorded with the Singing ChurchWomen, Oklahoma Baptist Symphony and Oklahoma Baptist Children's Chorus. Their recordings have been made in studios and auditoriums stretching from Nashville to Hollywood. And on several occasions were rec-orded live, both internationally (St. Petersburg, Beijing and Sydney) and closer to home (Fort Worth, Shawnee and Moore). The group’s list of recordings includes: Singing Churchmen, 1963; The Singing Churchmen, 1964; What Wondrous Love, 1965; The Sound of Christmas and One of These Days, 1967; Christ the Only Hope, 1969; The Singing Churchmen with Ralph Carmichael, and America, 1973; Rise Up O Men of God, 1974; Devotion &

21

Praise, and Give Thanks and Sing!, 1975; The Church Triumphant, and Unto Us a Child is Born, 1976; Recapitulation: The Best of the Singing Churchmen, Vol. 1 and 2, 1979; Majesty, 1981; Classic, 1985; El Shaddai: The Musical, 1986; Tuesday Night Live at South-western Seminary, 1988; Tuesday Night Live at Oklahoma City, Northwest, 1989; Stand Firm, 1992; The Singing Churchmen Live at Oktober Hall in St. Petersburg, Russia, 1993; No Night There, 1994; Tribute, 1995; Exaltation, 1996; God is Faith-ful, 1998; All Praise Rising, 2002; Live! From Sydney, 2003; Foundation, 2005; Come to Jesus, 2007; The Ap-plause of Heaven, 2012; The Journey of Christmas, 2015; Let Everything That Hath Breath, 2016; Legacy of Faith, 2017 and This is My Testimony, 2019. The years and decades have seen the group travel across Oklaho-ma, much of the United States, and many parts of the world. Some of the men still in the group have been mem-bers since its inception. “Music is the outward thing that people see and certainly hear when the SCM gather; however, music alone has not been the glue that has held the Churchmen together,” Lind com-mented. “The SCM began, and contin-ue, to have a passion to share the Gospel through their lives and in their music. Behind the scenes and in the weeks between concerts, the SCM are engaged in ministry in the local church. The ‘secret sauce’ for the SCM is the strong network of prayer and other types of support that the men have. This is a rare and needed thing in a man’s life.” This is their story! This is Their Song! also features many sto-ries and remembrances from the group’s members.



22

HISTORICAL SECRETARY’S REPORT Bob Nigh, Historical Secretary

Several items of special historical significance were donated to the Gaskin Baptist Archives housed at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee during 2019. Included were five notebooks filled with writings by former Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma (BGCO/Oklahoma Baptists) Exec-utive Director-Treasurer William G. Tanner. The collection was do-nated by officials with the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas, for which Tanner served as president for several years. Falls Creek youth encampment programs from 1950, 1962 and 1964, along with a cardboard fan used to keep a camper cool in the sweltering heat of a southern Oklahoma sun, were donated by LeRoy Fore of Tulsa. Fort Gibson, First donated either an intact, or pieces of, issues of the Baptist Beacon printed in 1945-46, and a copy of the April 13, 1950 issue of the Baptist Messenger, which ran a teaser on its cover about a story on page 3: “Vacation Bible Schools are Fun, ask the Moores of Muskogee association.” The “Moores” were missionary Jay W.C. Moore and his wife (No name given), who had conducted 85 VBS sessions in the past 10 years in the association. L.B. and Marie Flanigan donated several books written by Nicey Murphy, former assistant executive secretary of the Oklahoma WMU and, later, executive secretary of the Colorado WMU (1956-57) and the Great Plains Baptist Convention WMU (1968-76). Colorado Bap-tists named their state missions offering after Murphy, much like the Oklahoma offering is named for Edna McMillan. The books include The Flip Side, or Workin’ for the Lord ain’t all That Dull; The 30th Child of Southern Baptists about the birth and early childhood of the Great Plains Association, and a biography of her mother: Agnes Murphy, Whatta Woman! Also donated was a copy of a conference study guide presented by Murphy at the Glo-rieta, N.M. Conference Center titled, The Shocking Case of Murder

in the Church, or Who is Killing Mission Study? Mary Ellen Keeton of Kingston and Don Baxter of Oklahoma City were elected as new members of the Oklahoma Baptist Historical Commission by messengers to the BGCO Annual Meeting in No-vember. Assignments and chairpersons of the Commission’s stand-ing committees were made at the OBHC spring semi-annual meet-ing at the Baptist Building in Oklahoma City, including: Distinguished Service Award: Andy Latta, Chair, Luke Holmes and Terry Brooks; Gaskin Church History Award: Don Baxter, Chair, Mary Ellen Keeton and Bill Haggard; Oklahoma Baptist Hall of Fame: Luke Holmes,

23

Chair, Mary Ellen Keeton and Richard McCullough; Gaskin Baptist Archives: Leona Marion, Chair, Don Baxter and Richard McCullough. The autumn 2019 edition of the Oklahoma Baptist Chronicle in-cluded articles about the two men inducted this year into the Oklaho-ma Baptist Hall of Fame—Anson Justice and Vernon Max Malone—and profiles of the two people who received the 2019 Distinguished Service Award—Robert E. Haskins and Pat Wagstaff. The Historical Secretary was privileged to produce anniversary certificates for 20 state churches during 2019, and was honored to attend several of the observances. Churches celebrating anniver-saries in 2019 included Atoka, Hillcrest – 50th; Barnsdall, Victory – 25th; Bethel Acres, New Hope – 125th; Cherokee Association – 150th; Comanche, First – 125th; Elk City, Fairview – 60th; Enid, First – 125th; Geary, First – 125th; Kingfisher, First – 125th; Laverne, First – 100th; Midwest City, First – 75th; Noble, Etowah – 100th; Ok-lahoma City, Eagle Heights – 25th; Panama, First – 100th; Red Oak, First – 125th; Roland Hills – 50th; Sapulpa, Faith – 25th; Vinita, Bun-ker Hill – 75th; Wellston, First – 125th; and Wynona, First – 100th. The Historical Secretary continues to receive and respond in a timely manner to requests from churches and individuals for histori-cal information, assistance with research and help in preparing anni-versary observances.

Historical Secretary’s Report


24

>> by Bob Nigh, Historical Secretary, Director of History Most people have old family and vacation photographs and nega-tives stashed away on shelves or in boxes. They probably also have CDs, VCR tapes or old 8 mm and 16 mm home movies packed away in a closet never to see the light of day again. The same is true for the Gas-kin Baptist Archives housed in the Mabee Learning Center at Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU) in Shawnee. Almost 800 audio reel-to-reel tapes and film reels—mostly of services and events which happened at Falls Creek Baptist Conference Cen-ter—had been collected during the years. The oldest date back to 1946. During their Spring meeting last year, members of the Okla-homa Baptist Historical Commis-sion voted to begin the process of digitalizing those tapes and films to ensure their viability and availability for access by research-ers and others interested in Okla-homa Baptist history. To begin the process, a list of nearly 20 tapes and 16 mm films was compiled, and special collections librarian Rachel Walker has forwarded those items for digitalization. The cost to convert the audio tapes is $100 each. The 16 mm films are scanned, frame-by-frame, into 4K high-definition format at a price of 99 cents per foot. The film lengths are estimated to be about 300 feet each, thus amounting to a cost of $600 for the two films in question. Walker said the Gaskin Digitalization Fund has $2,450 available, enough to cover the cost. When converted, the tapes and movies will be available for view-ing in the OBU digital repository at digitalcollections.okbu.edu.

Digitalization of Falls Creek tapes and videos underway

The oldest item in the collec-tion is a 16 mm silent film from 1946. It has an addition-al label which reads, “Charley Taylor preaching at Falls Creek.”

25

“Digitalizing these tapes and films will help preserve the infor-mation on them and make them more accessible to researchers and others interested in their historical significance,” Walker said. Historical Commission members Luke Holmes of Tishomingo and Leona Marion of Oklahoma City worked with the Oklahoma Baptists’ Historical Secretary to compile the initial list of tapes and films for conversion. “We believe this is a very important project and necessary to pre-serve the images and sounds on these tapes,” Holmes said. “It cer-tainly would be unfortunate to have them deteriorate to the point that the information is lost.” Audio tapes being digi-talized include sermons by popular Falls Creek pastors through the years, including Charley Taylor, who spoke there in 1942, 1946, 1949, 1951 and 1952. A recording of the B.B. McKinney Chapel groundbreaking is another significant tape, as are an interview with Sam Scant-lan by J.M. Gaskin and a testimony by John Bisagno, who preached at Falls Creek on many occasions. Other recorded sermons include those by Baker James Cauthen, executive secretary and executive director of the Foreign Mission Board (Now the International Mission Board) of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1954-1979, and Herschel H. Hobbs—a prolific au-thor, preacher and radio program host. Hobbs was pastor of Okla-homa City, First from 1949-72. He is also the namesake of OBU’s Herschel H. Hobbs College of Theology and Ministry. Historical Commission members agreed that completing such a massive project will be daunting, and they are hoping churches and other groups across the state will recognize the importance of com-pleting the project and be willing to sponsor one, two—or even sev-eral—tapes to be digitalized. Churches or groups interested in participating in the digitalization project are urged to call Historical Secretary Bob Nigh at 405/990-0123, or email him at [email protected].

Digitalization of Falls Creek Tapes, Videos


26

NECROLOGY Jan. 1–Dec. 31, 2019

Adams, Laddie Ray died Feb. 10. He served in pastoral ministry

at Oklahoma Baptist churches in Cheyenne, Cordell, Enid and

Keyes and as BGCO director of language missions when he and his

wife, Nita, were commissioned as missionaries for the Southern

Baptist Convention’s Home Mission Board. He established the Okla-

homa Baptist disaster relief organization.

Allen, Delmer Lee died Aug. 10. He pastored in California and

Hawaii and he and his wife, Ramona, served as IMB missionaries in

Dubai, United Arab Emirates and in Bangalore, India.

Allen, John died June 9. He served as pastor of Paoli, First and

Noble, First and was a retired director of missions in Enon Associa-

tion.

Barber, Glenn died July 21. He served as children’s minister at

Moore, First before becoming the children’s ministry specialist with

the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma and program director

for CrossTimbers Children’s Mission Adventure Camp.

Billings, Gerald Thomas “Tommy” died Feb. 26. He pastored

Pond Creek, First and Waurika, First. He also served on the board

of directors for Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children and as director

of missions for Mullins Association.

Billings, Tommy Lynn died Feb. 5. He was a retired director of

missions in Mullins Association.

Brown, Valorie died Nov. 17. She was a retired LeFlore Associ-

ation administrative assistant and wife of LeFlore Association pastor

Monte Brown.

Canoe, Richard Morgan died Aug. 2. He was a long-time South-

ern Baptist minister.

Carney, Danny died Feb. 6. He was the brother of Derrick Car-

ney, pastor of Luther, First.

Coffelt, Larry Earl died June 23. He was pastor of Maner

Church.

Colston, Robert “Bob” died Nov. 20. He was the retired manag-

er of the Oklahoma City Baptist (LifeWay) Book Store and served in

many Baptist churches as a Lay Renewal Coordinator.

Coppedge, Joe died April 2. He spent 45 years preaching the

Gospel in numerous churches in Oklahoma and Missouri.

27

Davis, Don died March 21. He was the brother of Pat Jones,

BGCO Equipping Team.

Davis, Jack died Feb. 18. He was the husband of Susan Davis,

Tulsa Metro Association ministry assistant.

DeMoss, Rodney died Feb. 3. He was the father of Mark De-

Moss, pastor of Oklahoma City, Capitol Hill.

Dixon, Betty Sue died Oct. 21. She was the wife of Curtis Dixon,

with whom she served as an IMB missionary in Brazil, Angola and

Portugal.

Doke, Dedra died April 30. She was music director at Pocasset,

First.

Dominic, Pete Jr. died Oct. 9. He was the father of Rick Domi-

nic, Pittsburg Association director of missions.

Dooley, Glenn died Dec. 7. It is believed that he worked for Ok-

lahoma Baptists longer than any other individual. He began as a

printer for the Bison Press in Shawnee in 1947. He then moved to

Oklahoma City where he worked for The Baptist Messenger begin-

ning in 1954 and retired in 1997.

Frase, Virgil died April 27. He was the father/father-in-law of Tina

and Shawn Nichols, pastor of Oklahoma City, Wilmont Place.

Freas, Sam died March 24. He was swimming and diving coach

at Oklahoma Baptist University, leading the Bison to seven national

championships, and also was a professor in OBU’s physical educa-

tion and health and human performance departments..

Fuller, William died June 11. He served at the East Central As-

sociation youth camp on Lake Tenkiller, in many Oklahoma Baptist

churches and as East Central Association director of missions.

Gaskin, Jesse Marvin died Jan. 8. He served as pastor in Coal-

gate, Durant, Heavener and Tonkawa, and was a founding member

of the Oklahoma Baptist Historical Society. He authored thirty books

and was the original and long-time editor of the Oklahoma Baptist

Chronicle.

Gatton, Thomas died Feb. 7. He was the father of Charlie Gat-

ton, CrossTimbers Children’s Mission Adventure Camp program

director and children’s ministry specialist.

Gordon, Janie died April 27. She was the wife of Ed Gordon,

pastor of Bartlesville, Trinity.

Necrology


28

Gregory, Mary died Nov. 9. She was the mother of Chris

Forbes, Oklahoma Baptists’ Branding and Marketing Ministry Part-

ner.

Granados, Jose died in September. He was pastor of Lawton,

Primera Iglesia Bautista.

Hall, Edna Louise died April 3. She was married for more than

50 years to Billy Hall, who pastored many Oklahoma churches, and

they both served as house parents for Oklahoma Baptist Homes for

Children and fostered more than 50 children.

Hall, Lloyd Eugene died June 16. He was a long-time pastor at

Burns Flat and Arapaho, First and chaplain at the Baptist Village

retirement home in Cleveland. He was the father of Oklahoma pas-

tors Greg and Shane Hall.

Hambrick, Fred died Aug. 5. He pastored numerous churches

in Arkansas and Oklahoma, most recently Midwest City, Crest.

Hawkins, William Marlin died June 21. He was employed by

Glorieta Conference Center in Glorieta, N.M., and as administrator

of education at Duncan, First before becoming the chief financial

officer of the BGCO, an office he held for more than 25 years.

Hinson, Robert J. died Nov. 25. He served as pastor of Midwest

City, First for 40 years and of Marlow, First.

Jones, Joe Thomas died March 7. He was the father of Joe Li-

gon, pastor of Marlow, First and BGCO senior associate executive

director.

Kirkhuff, Dale died March 26. He pastored for more than 50

years at churches in California and Texas., including Lexington,

First and Noble, Twelve Corners.

Lovejoy, Bob died Sept. 24. He was pastor of Fletcher, First;

Oklahoma City, Carey Heights and Pawhuska, Lynn; Comanche-

Cotton Association director of missions and program manager for

African-American church relations and Christian social ministries.

Mantle, Robert E. died Jan. 14 he was a pastor in Oklahoma

and planted churches in Indiana and Missouri.

Masters, Jeremy died Oct. 18. He was the son of Jeff Masters,

Oklahoma Baptists’ Security Team.

McClain, Mary died May 3. She served as president of the Okla-

homa Woman’s Missionary Union from 1977-1981.

McDowell, Raymond died Feb. 3. He pastored many Oklahoma

churches, including Binger, First; Chickasha, College Heights; Mus-

29

tang, Chisholm Heights and churches in Galey and Sharon. He also

served on the Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma board of directors

and worked closely with Capital Association.

McNeece, George died Feb. 24. He was the father of Greg

McNeece, Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children president.

McPherson, Nadine Faye died April 26. She served on the Okla-

homa Baptist University Board of Trustees for eight years.

Miller, Cheryl died Feb. 10. She was the wife of August “ Butch”

Miller, who pastored Afton, First; Greenfield, First and Langley, First.

Miller, Jene died Jan. 12. She was the wife of Eldridge Miller,

who pastored at Sallisaw. First.

Neighbors, Carol Elizabeth died Feb. 23. She was the wife of

Scott Neighbors, executive pastor/worship leader at Skiatook, First.

Oswalt, Colleen Annabelle died Sept. 12. She was a Baptist

General Convention of Oklahoma retiree.

Owens, Joe Dell died March 24. He was minister of education

and associate pastor at Ada, First; Oklahoma City, First and Yukon,

First.

Phillips, Retha A. died Dec. 30, 2018. She was the mother/

mother-in-law of Scott Phillips, BGCO Operations Team leader and

his wife, Fran.

Quigley, Robert died Oct. 17. He was the father of Alan Quigley,

BGCO Associate Executive Director for Church Resources.

Rice, Mary Lou died June 26. She was an organist, pianist and

music educator and the wife of John Rice, who served as minister

of music in Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas.

Robertson, Ronnie died Oct. 31. He was the father of Robby

Robertson, pastor of Oklahoma City, Grace Place and grandfather

of Rachael Robertson, BGCO Worship and Music Ministry assistant.

Rooker, Betty died Feb. 19. She was the mother of Susan Rook-

er, Baptist Village Communities of Oklahoma controller.

Russell, Bob died June 11. He was the brother of Tim Russell,

director of missions for Grady Association.

Sanmann, Wayne died Oct. 14. He was pastor of Medicine Park,

First.

Shank, Lucy Grace died Sept. 17. She held offices in the Okla-

homa Woman’s Missionary Union and she and her husband, Carl,

were long-time supporters of Boys Ranch, sponsoring the Carl and

Necrology


30

Lucy Shank Equine Center and helping to establish the Vo-tech

welding program.

Sherrill, William E. “Bill” III died Feb. 8. He was pastor of Jones,

First; Beaver, First; Checotah, First and a retired director of missions

for Muskogee Association.

Smith, Bailey, died Jan. 14. He was pastor of Del City, First

Southern and an evangelist. He served as SBC president, 1980-82.

Staggs, H. Glenn died March 15. He served many Oklahoma

churches, most recently as associate pastor and minister of educa-

tion at Midway Southern in Dibble.

Taylor, Raymond died Feb. 1. He was the father-in-law of Susan

Taylor, BGCO accounting clerk.

Thomasson, Belinda died Dec. 31, 2018. She was the wife of

Richard Thomasson, director of missions for Kay Association.

Thompson, Mamie Jean died Feb. 23 She served in ministry

with her husband, Johnny Harold Thompson.

Wiginton, Travis E. died June 4. He served as pastor in many

Oklahoma Baptist churches, including Norman, Bethel and Nicoma

Park, First. He also served the IMB as a missionary in Korea, Baptist

Student Union director at the University of Oklahoma and chairman

of the SBC Home Mission Board.

Wilder, Glenn died Nov. 28. He was the father of James Wilder,

Pottawatomie-Lincoln Associational Missions Strategist.

31

Necrology


32

Memorial Gifts

On September 8, 1998 by vote of the Historical Commission, a me-

morial fund was established whereby a gift of $25 or more may be made to

the Gaskin Historical Archives and Library Forever Fund in memory of a

deceased relative or friend.

Ramona Allen, Wilburton

Given by John and Pat Hart

Ramona Allen, Wilburton

Given by Delmer, Charity and Tim Allen

James Ball, Claremore

Given by Lemuel Ball

Margie Ball, Claremore


Bob Burrows, Amarillo, Texas

Given by Marlin and Patsy Hawkins

Pluma Cantrell, Wilburton

Given by Del and Ramona Allen

Rose Chronister, Sallisaw

Given by Sans Bois Baptist Association

E. Farrell Dixon, Tulsa

Given by Curtis and Betty Dixon

Donald R. Dunn, Chickasha

Given by Jimmie L. Dunn

Jack Everhart, Oklahoma City

Given by Del and the late Ramona Allen

33

Betty Farris, Muskogee


Virginia Ann Fry, Claremore


Helen Isom Gaskin, Durant

Given by Patricia A. Roberts

Joseph Alexander Gaskin, Cartersville

Given by J. M. Gaskin

Jesse Marvin Gaskin, Durant

Given by Del Allen

Jim Glaze, Montgomery, Ala.


George Hill, Coalgate Given by Margaret Hill

George Hill, Coalgate


Mrs. Carrell Hooper, Durant

Given by J.M. and Helen Gaskin

Carleen Jones, Oklahoma City


Norma Jordan, Bartlesville

Given by Oklahoma Baptist Historical Commission

Nadean Justice, Oklahoma City


Memorials


34

Murray Leath, Plano, Texas


Dick Lovelady, Bethany


Clara Luedecke, Weatherford, Texas


Burl Mackey, Edmond

Given by Jonell Crawford

Carl Mackey, Kingfisher

Given by Jonell Crawford

Charles Mackey, Durant

Given by Mrs. Robert Mackey

Robert Mackey, Durant

Given by Mrs. Robert Mackey

Bob Maxwell, Fayetteville, Ark.

Given by Del Allen

Lee McWilliams, Durant

Given by Patricia Roberts

Maye McWilliams, Durant

Given by Patricia Roberts

John H. Morton, Durant

Given by Bill J. Morton

Emma L. Shoemate Morton, Durant

Given by Bill J. Morton

35

Wenonah Willene Pierce, Fayetteville, Ark.

Given by Oklahoma Baptist Historical Commission

Wenonah Willene Pierce, Fayetteville, Ark.


Marie Ratliff, Wilburton

Given by Center Point Baptist Church

John D. Riggs, Durant

Given by J.M. Gaskin

Todd Sheldon, Dallas, Texas

Given by the Oklahoma Baptist Historical Commission

Todd Sheldon, Dallas, Texas


John L. Smith, Marlow

Given by Winfred Knight

Cathy Spain, Midwest City

Given by Winfred T. and Grace L. Knight, Jr.

Max Stanfield, Oklahoma City

Given by Winfred T. and Grace L. Knight, Jr.

William G. Tanner, Belton, Texas


James Timberlake, Atlanta, Ga.

Given by Kathryne Timberlake

Thelma Townsend, Oklahoma City


Memorials


36

Lawrence Van Horn, Oklahoma City


H. Alton Webb, Anadarko


Almeda Welch, Durant


Hazel Marie Williams White, Wilburton


the oklahoma baptist chronicle€¦ · the oklahoma baptist chronicle 4 >> by bob nigh,...

Documents